Basic nutrition Flashcards
main classes of nutrients
- Essential
- Non-essential
- Macro
- Micro
essential nutrients
- Cannot be synthesised (or not in sufficient quantities) by the body.
- Vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, essential amino acids
- Need to be taken in
non-essential nutrients
- Can be made, and in sufficient quantities, in the body.
- E.g. Glucose
macrinutrients
- Usually required in gram quantities
- Carbohydrate, fat, protein, water, alcohol (essential??)
- Quantitatively largest part of diet
micronutrients
- Usually needed in small amounts (<1 g)
- Vitamins, minerals (5 major), trace-elements
- Quantitatively largest family of nutrients
carbohydrates
- Carbo- (carbon)
- -hydrate (water; hydrogen and oxygen)
• Hydrated carbons (CH2O)
- Organic compounds
• Glucose C6H12O6 - like branched starch
- Exists in solution predominately cyclical as pyranose
types of saccharide
- Monosaccharide
- Disaccharide - 2 sugars
- Polysaccharide - many monomers with chains
dietary carbohydrates
- Glucose (most common sugar in body)
- Fructose (cheaper than sucrose)
- Galactose (neural tissue development)
- Sucrose (commonest in diet)
- Lactose (widely used in food industry)
- Maltose (fermented to make beer!!)
- Oligosaccharide (<10 monosaccharides, rapidly fermented in colon!)
- Starch (amylopectin:amylase, 3:1)
- Dietary fibre (non-starch polysaccharide)
glucose
Honey
Sugar
Confectionary
fructose
Honey
Fruit
Some veg
Corn starch
galactose
Lactose from milk
sucrose
Sugar beet
Sugar cane
Molasses
Syrup
lactose
milk
maltose
Wheat
Barley
oligosaccharide
Leeks
Onions
Lentils
Beans
starch
Potatoes
Cereals
Beans
dietary fibre
Cellulose
Non-cellulose
cellulose
Plant cell walls, resistant to digestion
insoluble - absorbs water
non-cellulose
Petins, gums, glucans
soluble in water
forms gel in gut
slow down absorption nutrients
fats
• Triacylglycerol comprises up to 95% of dietary fats
• Contain three fatty acids attached to a molecule of glycerol
• Concentrated source of energy, usually stored within adipose tissue
• Insulating layer under the skin
• Vehicle for intake and absorption of
fat soluble vitamins
• Contributor to flavour and palatability of foods
- C, H and O - less H - energy dense
FAs
• Organic chains of C, H, and O
• Categorised based on the number and bonding of carbon atoms
• Saturated (0 double bonds) - packed tightly - solid - less healthy - make cell membranes not work as well
• Monounsaturated (1 double bond)
• Polyunsaturated (>1 double bond)
- Unsaturated - less dense - liquid
• n = omega = number of carbons from methyl end - first double bond - give diff properties
- Less than or equal to 6 - short chain, 6-12 = medium, more than 12 = long
- Oleic acid = olive oil
- Lipoproteins circulate in blood and carry fat - proteins on outside that tell molecule where to go
other fats
- Phospholipids
- Sterols
phospholipids
- Contain glycerol backbone with two fatty acids (non-polar) and ‘polar head group’ with a phosphoric acid residue and either sugars or amino acids
- Amphipathic acting as interface between aqueous and lipid environments, therefore essential structural components of cell membranes (phospholipid bilayer)
- Hydrophobic tails and hydrophilic heads make bilayer
sterols
- Arranged in a ring structure with associated side chains
- Cholesterol is main sterol, often associated with a fatty acid to form a cholesteryl ester
- Plays a key role in membrane structure, synthesis of hormones, and bile acids
- Lipoproteins characterised by types and amount of cholesterol
dietary fats
- Short chain SFA (C4-C10)
- SFA (C14-C18)
- MUFA, especially C18:1
- PUFAs, n-6
- PUFAs, n-3
- Cholesterol
- Phospholipids
- Trans-fats
short chain SFA
Milk
Milk products
Butter
SFA (c14-18)
Meat
Animal foods and fats
Coconut and palm oils
MUFA
Olive and rapeseed oils